:::::::You are in Global Research Journals! Welcome::::::GARJMBS>Uche et al:Sustainable community development: An insight into the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) community development projects in Abia State

Project sustainability is central in community development efforts. Since independence, successive government has come up with one developmental board/commission or the other as a tool for developing the Niger Delta area. However, it has been observed that these boards or commissions failed to attain the set goals due to their approaches and in coordinated community development activities. Sustainable development has to do with participatory development, human development and environmental protection. The federal government, thus, established the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in 2000 to address the developmental challenges of the people. Consequently, the research was aimed at examining sustainable community development with reference to the people’s perception of NDDC community development projects in Abia State. The purposive sampling was adopted in the study. The sample comprised of 6 communities from 6 LGAs in the state. The Focus Group Discussion and in-depth interviews were the instruments used for data collection. The sample size used in the study was 48 FGD participants and 6 IDI respondents. Data generated for the study were analysed in quotes. The study revealed that the NDDC has executed projects in all the communities under study. Moreover, the successfully executed projects have impacted positively on the quality of lives of the community members. The study further revealed that the participation of the community members in projects execution is low and this has implications in projects sustainability.

Keywords: Sustainability, Perception, Community, Community development, Project